Drastic increase in use of knives in city crimes

A review of the Police Department’s crime statistics from the beginning of the year to Sept. 30 shows knives continue to be a weapon of choice this year.

While there were 18 shootings with 21 victims in the time fame, an increase from the 2006 numbers of 14 shootings and 16 victims; the crime statistics show a drastic increase in knives used in crimes.

There have been 235 incidents in which knives were used in crimes from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, an increase of 23 percent from the same time period last year. There were 191 incidents last year.

The number of stabbings and slashings remained the same this year and last year.

“What we’ve seen is knives becoming the weapon of choice in altercations. It is a concern (that) we’ve had 63 stabbings of various severity in the city,” Police Chief Gary J. Gemme said.

In assessing the statistic, Chief Gemme said he sees knives as an impulse weapon.

“We’ve seen individuals get into a fight and quickly go to the knife,” Chief Gemme said. “When you look at the stabbings, they are concentrated to a group of people that are in many cases well-known to each other. They are frequenting the same party, bar or after-hours location, and in the heat of an argument or altercation they are quick to go to the knife.”

While discussing the number of knives used in crimes, the chief noted the difference between the weapon and firearms. He said the city has seen shootings in which the victim is shot multiple times or in which multiple shots have been fired. An innocent bystander can be hit by a stray bullet, he said, but in most stabbings the intended victim is the one struck.

Chief Gemme cited the shooting near the Pleasant Towers in late August in which a woman was grazed in the back by a stray bullet. One man was chasing another and shooting at him. The woman did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

A 13-year-old boy was also shot by a stray bullet in April, allegedly by a man who had been paroled the year before on a manslaughter charge.

“The more times a firearm is discharged increases the potential for other people to be struck,” the chief said.

The department looked at the seven-year average for various crimes when reviewing the recent crime statistics. The seven-year average helps the department review long-term trends in crimes and extends the use of examining the statistics beyond the year-to-year basis.

Some crimes, such as those under the categories of noise and disorder, are up compared to last year and the seven-year average. Domestic assaults both simple and aggravated are also up.

Disorderly conduct, noise disturbances, vandalism and larceny from motor vehicles all increased in comparison to last year and the seven-year average under the Jan. 1 to Sept. 30 time frame.

“Those are types of issues that really impact most people,” Chief Gemme said, calling all those categories quality-of-life issues. “It really changes people’s perception of the city, their neighborhoods and their safety.”

There is a Neighborhood Watch Summit at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the police station, Lincoln Square.

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